As we headed out of the hotel's main gate, the atmosphere of Kyoto greeted us with the sweet, floral scent of cherry blossoms and a pinkish view, with petals sailing along the breeze.
"Uhm… Shinoyama-san…"
"Where are we heading first?" I asked, wondering if she had something planned.
"Let's go to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest first. Shall we?" she replied.
"Where are we gonna go next, though?" I asked, trying to confirm that she really had a plan.
"After that… let's head to Kiyomizu-dera!" she said enthusiastically.
"So she really does have a plan…" I confirmed to myself.
"Are we using the train?"
"Yeah, of course. Taxis are just too expensive, aren't they?"
"Yeah, they really are."
The more we moved, the more awkward the atmosphere between us became.
"So, hey… are you from Tokyo?" I tried to break the silence.
"Actually, no. I was born in Osaka. I just moved to Tokyo…"
"Oh."
Neither of us spoke; the conversation once again fell into silence. I took a glance at Shinoyama-san, wondering if something was bothering her. I couldn't seem to find the problem.
"Oh," she said. "The station is crowded."
"I think we should enter the station fast, before it gets too crowded."
"Yeah," she said.
The station was like an ant colony, swarming with tourists and locals. As I was thinking about how we could get through this mess, something soft wrapped around my hand. I was startled. I looked down, only to see that she was… holding my hand. The moment I realized it, my heartbeat began to accelerate.
"We can get lost, you know," she said.
"Uh, haha… yeah," I replied, my voice trembling.
"Let's get going! We need to buy a ticket."
As she rushed ahead, I noticed the tips of her ears turning pink-red. As she dragged me by the hand across the crowd to the ticket office, I couldn't think of anything, as if my brain had shut down. My mind was blank.
…
…
…
"Hey, you alright?" someone asked.
I looked toward the voice. It was Shinoyama-san.
"Oh yeah, I'm well and kickin', haha."
"Are you actually alright? You seem odd now."
"Oh yeah, I'm fine."
"Can you hand me your student card?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, of course."
She took my student card. Beep… beep… she scanned the cards, took the tickets, and said,
"We're ready to board now. Off we go!"
She seemed excited. We walked across the platform to board our train.
"Hey, I found it! It's this one, isn't it?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah! Let's go in!" she replied.
As the sliding doors opened, we were splashed with cool air-conditioning. Walking down the aisle of seats with a girl beside me felt unreal. As we walked, a thought crossed my mind. Am I sitting side by side with her again? The further we went, the more uneasy I became. Before I realized it, I was standing in front of my seat. I sat down, and she sat beside me. Since I was next to the window, I felt relieved. I gazed out the window for the whole trip.
As the minutes passed, a voice came from the intercom.
"The next station is Arashiyama, Arashiyama."
We had arrived at our destination. We stepped out of the train station, greeted once again by the scent of cherry blossoms. But this time was different. After walking out of the station and reaching the destination, we were met with an even bigger surprise. A path lined with bamboo stretched out before us.
I melted into the view. The pale brown path, yellow lanterns, and green bamboo were a perfect match.
"Imagine coming here at night!" I said to Shinoyama-san.
"It would be awesome. We can come here again! Next time, at night!" she replied enthusiastically.
We walked along the path, admiring the beauty of nature with every step. The further we went, the more relaxed we felt. The soothing green scenery calmed us as we moved deeper inside. Our minds eased. I took a quick peek at Shinoyama-san, and she looked just as calm. She seemed as gentle as a monsoon breeze, like standing on a balcony at dusk, feeling cool rain drops carried by soft wind. A feeling almost impossible to put into words.
Before we realized it, we were already at the end of the path.
"Hey, Shinoyama-san, I don't know how to express this, but damn… that was awesome," I said.
"Yeah, I felt really calm. That was a hell of an experience," she replied.
"I guess that's enough calmness. It's time to get moving."
"Let's go!!!" she said, raising both her hands in the air.
"Let's hurry to the station again!!" she added.
"Roger that, ma'am!"
"What… haha," she giggled.
We rushed to the train station, not because we were late, but because we were impatient to explore more of Kyoto, packed with an inexpressible amount of beauty. We hopped on the Keifuku Line.
"This is gonna be a hell of a route, isn't it?" I said.
"Eh? Why?" she asked, confused.
"I just checked the route. We have to take a bus afterward."
"I didn't know thattt…"
"I guess I'll just keep myself busy on my phone," I said.
"Wouldn't that be boring?" she added.
"If not, what are we going to do?" I asked, confused.
Her face turned bright red like a tomato. She opened her mouth and said, "We could, uhm… learn more about each other… you know… like, uh… share experiences."
"Oh, uhh, haha… sure. But what are we sharing, though?" I asked nervously.
With uneasy thoughts rushing through her head, she blurted out, "Le… let's talk about our exam…"
"Oh, the scholar exam. Yeah," I replied awkwardly.
Time passed so quickly that only when the next station announcement played did we realize how long we had been talking.
"Looks like we're here," I said.
"Yeah, haha. We talked for quite some time."
"Talking with you feels like time travel, haha," I said.
"Uh…" She froze. Blood rushed to her face, turning it red once again. An indescribable feeling formed in her chest.
"Wait, is something wrong?" I asked.
"Ah, haha, no… I'm uhh… alright. Yeah," she replied shyly, covering her mouth with her hands.
By late evening, we arrived at our destination. A mix of ancient and romantic vibes washed over us as we stepped into the area. Together, we walked up the slope toward the main temple. Exhaustion hit us as we reached the top, but a gentle breeze and the fragrance of cherry blossoms eased our weariness.
We stood side by side on the stage, talking and sharing stories from our past. We were so lost in conversation that we didn't notice the sun dipping below the horizon until the floodlights flickered to life, turning the cherry blossoms beneath us into glowing clouds of pink as we drifted deeper into the night…